#RDVWL - A Readers' Diverse Wish List Hashtag

As a reader, do you ever sit and think, "I'd really like to read a book about X who is Y, and does ABC"? Looking for a really specific kind of story about a character from a particular marginalised group? Maybe you want a story about specific intersectional person, because you've not seen all aspects of your identity in one character? Or maybe you want to see a specific marginalised character doing things, or in a genre, you've not yet seen? I know I've had these kinds of wishes myself.

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Are Non-Western Inspired High Fantasies Only Having a Moment?

Titles marked with an asterisk (*) were gifted to me by the publisher for purposes of providing an honest review.

Over the last few weeks, I've read quite a few #OwnVoices high fantasies by authors of colour, inspired by non-Western cultures, and I have been loving them! There have been quite a few that have been published over the last few years - An Ember in the Ashes by Sabaa Tahir, Children of Blood and Bone by Tomi Adeyemi*, Beasts Made of Night by Tochi Onyebuchi, City of Brass by S. A. Chakroborty*, Girls of Paper and Fire by Natasha Ngan*, Empress of All Seasons by Emiko Jean*, Empire of Sand by Tasha Suri*, Shadow of the Fox by Julie Kagawa*, and many more - which is awesome for authors of colour; they finally get to tell their stories and have them sold. Diverse high fantasy is finally having it's moment, and it's about time. However, it does make me wonder, is it only a moment?

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My Most Anticipated 2019 YA SFF Releases by Authors of Colour

Ad: Titles marked with an asterisk (*) were gifted to me by the publisher for the purpose of providing an honest review.

Today I'm sharing with you ten of my most anticipated YA SFF releases of 2019 by authors of colour! A lot of these - though not all - are #OwnVoices stories based on the authors' own cultures, which really excites me! I've been loving non-Western inspired fantasies recently! And most feature protagonists of colour, too!

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PULPStories Tour: Robin Talley's LGBTQ* YA Recomendations

Today is my stop on the #PULPstories Tour, the blog tour for Robin Talley's latest novel, Pulp, which was published on 16th November! Robin is stopping by the blog with a guest post, recommending a number of LGBTQ* YA novels.

Darius the Great Is Not Okay by Adib Khorram. This story, about a 15-year-old Iranian-American boy on his first-ever trip to Iran where he quickly becomes close friends with a very intriguing local boy, might be my favorite read of 2018, and that’s saying a lot. Darius is smart, hilarious, and misunderstood by pretty much everyone around him, and I would happily read 50 Darius sequels if it meant I got to spend more time inside his head.

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13 SFF Novels by Diverse Authors, Inspired by Non-Western Cultures

Last month, there was an article published on Tor.com, The 10 Best Completed SF and Fantasy Series (According to Me) by Drew McCaffrey. There was a disclaimer that the list didn't include stand-alones, series that weren't yet complete, or any mention of books the writer hadn't yet read - though he did mention that there were a lot of diverse stories being published these days, he just hadn't read them. So his list was completely devoid of books by women, except J. K. Rowling, devoid of recent books, except Harry Potter, and devoid of any books that were based on non-Western cultures (or, in other words, not Medieval England inspired stories).

I just think the list as a whole is ridiculous, to be honest. In my opinion, including J. K. Rowling is a little too easy; she's well known and popular, and as the only woman, also kind of a token? Thrown in not to not be shouted at for not including any women. Otherwise, it's a list of old books by old white men from years ago. What was the point of this article? If you're not giving us anything new, why bother? Go back a number of years, and I'm sure you'll find a list of very similar titles. Nothing new, nothing diverse. A number of people complained about the article on Twitter, and I think for good reason. About the lack of women, about the lack of diverse voices. And sure, if he's not read them, he can't mention them, but maybe he should have held off on writing such an article until he had other stories to recommend? Rather than giving us more of the same thing we hear over and over.

Rather than continue to complain and talk about how problematic it is, I thought I would create a list of SFF, most written by women, inspired by non-Western cultures, by diverse authors, that should be highlighted.

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Mental Illness in YA Month Reading List: Intersectional YA Novels Featuring Mental Illness

Yesterday, we had a guest post from Ashley Woodfolk, who spoke about how intersectional YA is important to learn empathy. Today, I thought I'd share with you the intersectional YA novels I know of where the protagonists also have a mental illness. This first list mentions the books I've previously read and reviewed, and those I'm not able to get to for Mental Illness in YA Month. I'll also include a list at the end of all intersectional books I'll be covering in this event.

Darius the Great is Not Okay by Adib Khorram

Darius doesn't think he'll ever be enough, in America or in Iran. Hilarious and heartbreaking, this unforgettable debut introduces a brilliant new voice in contemporary YA.

Darius Kellner speaks better Klingon than Farsi, and he knows more about Hobbit social cues than Persian ones. He's about to take his first-ever trip to Iran, and it's pretty overwhelming--especially when he's also dealing with clinical depression, a disapproving dad, and a chronically anemic social life. In Iran, he gets to know his ailing but still formidable grandfather, his loving grandmother, and the rest of his mom's family for the first time. And he meets Sohrab, the boy next door who changes everything.

Sohrab makes sure people speak English so Darius can understand what's going on. He gets Darius an Iranian National Football Team jersey that makes him feel like a True Persian for the first time. And he understand that sometimes, best friends don't have to talk. Darius has never had a true friend before, but now he's spending his days with Sohrab playing soccer, eating rosewater ice cream, and sitting together for hours in their special place, a rooftop overlooking the Yazdi skyline.

Sohrab calls him Darioush--the original Persian version of his name--and Darius has never felt more like himself than he does now that he's Darioush to Sohrab. When it's time to go home to America, he'll have to find a way to be Darioush on his own. From Goodreads.

Darius is Iranian-American, and has clinical depression. #OwnVoices for race.

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Mental Illness in YA Month: Ashley Woodfolk on Empathy and Intersectionality in YA

When I first started looking at the YA books I had on my shelves featuring mental illness and researching others I could read for this event, I realised that pretty much every one featured white, cishet, otherwise non-disabled, Christian/athiest (or no religion specified) characters. Apart from a few, most of the books I were coming across featured no intersectionality whatsoever. So I did more research and asked for recommendations, wanting the event to feature as many books with protagonists with intersecting identities as possible, and made a list. It featured 15 books in total, with 11 of them featuring protagonists of colour. Fortunately, since making that, I have discovered a few more books to add to the list, but there are still too few.

But during my search, on The Beauty That Remains' release day, YA debut author Ashley Woodfolk wrote an absolutely brilliant Twitter thread about intersectionality. Today, I'm really excited to have Ashley visiting the blog to expand on her Twitter thread, and the importance of intersectionality in YA.

Universal empathy is the key to making the world a better place.

That might sound like an oversimplification, but all the greatest crimes against humanity were perpetuated by lies that dehumanized a group of people. Empathy is essential to imagine people complexly--it’s seeing someone as being as real, as human, as you are. But empathy isn’t something that is easily obtained.

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Discussion: Bookish Pet Peeves

I've been a reader for around two decades now, and over that time, I have discovered certain things about books that annoy me. They don't necessarily ruin the overall reading experience, but there are definitely certain things that bother and frustrate me. So today, I thought I'd share with you some of my bookish pet peeves.

Hardbacks

I'm fortunate enough that I live in the UK, and with YA, bar the odd book here and there, most books come out in paperback. However, I'm unfortunate enough to live in the UK, and the US is always publishing such incredible books, that aren't always published in the UK - and they are always published in hardback first. Now, I can absolutely agree that hardbacks are very pretty and look so gorgeous on a shelf. As an object, hardback books are just wonderful to look at. A bookshelf full of hardbacks is, in itself, I think, something pleasing to look at. However, as a reader, there a number of things about hardbacks that make me grumble.

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Discussion: Representation Matters on Covers, Too - And the UK Doesn't Always Get It Right

Last week, the UK cover for A Blade so Black by L. L. McKinney was released on The Book Smugglers. It's a gorgeous, gorgeous cover. I love the nods to Alice in Wonderland in it; the rabbit with the clock top-left, the club and spade symbols on the left among the roses. Though, if I'm honest, I'm not crazy about the placement of the Entertainment Weekly quote, but that's a conversation for another day. Despite how beautiful this cover is, it did remind of something that UK publishers don't seem to do brilliant at - representing marginalised people on covers.

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A Diversified Bookcase With Lygia Day Peñaflor and All of This is True

A Diversified Bookcase is a feature where authors of diverse YA recommend other diverse YA novels by other authors to their characters. Lygia Day Peñaflor, author of All of This is True, is stopping by with some recommendations for Penny and Jonah.


The characters in my new novel, All of This Is True, fall into deep trouble when they befriend Fatima Ro, the charismatic and manipulative author of their favorite novel. Today I’m pleased to recommend books to my characters, Penny and Jonah, that depict true friendships through good times and bad. Here are my recommendations for Penny, who loves fashion and is searching for non-stressful reading, and Jonah, an athlete who struggles with issues of betrayal, trust, and loyalty.

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Discussion: My Thoughts on Sensitivity Readers and the Censorship Argument

On Christmas Eve,  an article went up on the New York Times, 'In an Era of Online Outrage, Do Sensitivity Readers Result in Better Books, or Censorship?' There was a lot of anger at this article as a number of those who were interviewed for it in favour of sensitivity readers had a lot of what they said cut short. The major points they had to say were left out. Then, on Christmas Day, author Joyce Carol Oates, in a quote tweet to Dhonielle Clayton (YA author of upcoming The Belles) - who was tweeting about how she was angry with the article, that not everything she had to say in the interview was included, and that she would like to write about the reason sensitivity readers are needed is because publishing favours the privileged over the marginalised -  spewed a lot of racist tweets about how if people don't like the stories, don't read them, and they should start their own publishing houses to get their books published. As you can imagine, that really didn't go down well with anyone, and a lot of people hit back hard.

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Discussion: Diverse Books are Realistic Because Marginsalised People Exist

The tweet below by an author was making a lot of people angry yesterday. A lot of people have commented on Twitter about how wrong this author is, but I felt compelled to respond, too.

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A Diversified Bookcase with Simon James Green and Noah Can't Even

A Diversified Bookcase is a feature where authors of diverse YA recommend other diverse YA novels by other authors to their characters. Today, Simon James Green, debut author of UKYA novel Noah Can't Even, is stopping by to recommend some books to his main characters, Noah and Harry.


There’s nothing I enjoy more than recommending some great books to people – and what better people to recommend them to than my own characters from Noah Can’t Even! Noah and Harry both love to read, and I’ve got some fab diverse books lined up for them today, that I think they’ll both appreciate!

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The Ramadan Readathon - Why It's Important & What I Plan to Read

Something exciting is happening in June! Nadia of Words Beneath the Wings and Zoya of We Are All Critics have joined together to create the Ramadan Readathon - readathon dedicated to reading books by Muslim authors throughout June, coinciding with Ramadan.

I thought this was such a great idea! It's only very recently that I've found, through Twitter, just how few YA books by Muslim authors there are. A small number have come out recently/will be coming out this year in the US, but not all of those are coming out in the UK. This thread on Twitter from author of MG debut The Gauntlet, Karuna Riazi, shows how few are being published in the US through 2017 - 2018, and the numbers are not anywhere near enough. Thinking back over my own reading, I think I've only read one book by a Muslim author. Just one. And this isn't ok.

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A Diversified Bookcase with Penny Joelson and I Have No Secrets

A Diversified Bookcase is a feature where authors of diverse YA recommend other diverse YA novels by other authors to their characters. Today Penny Joelson, debut author of UKYA novel I Have No Secrets, is stopping by to recommend some books to protagonist, Jemma.





The One Memory of Flora Banks by Emily Barr
I thoroughly enjoyed this book and in particular the way it made me think about how much we rely on our memories (even though mine is terrible!) and how hard it is to make sense of life when you can’t remember the past. I think my character Jemma, who has cerebral palsy, would enjoy it too as Flora’s experience is so different to her own but still disabling in another way. Jemma relies so much on her memory and observations that she would find it hard to imagine life with amnesia. The book also made me think about memory in relation to communication – how hard it is to communicate with others when you can’t remember what has happened. The one memory Flora has – of being kissed - is powerfully symbolic and the catalyst for an exciting adventure. One other link with Jemma’s experience in ‘I Have No Secrets’ is being treated like a much younger child. For Flora it is her mother who is infantilising her while for Jemma it is other people. The frustration of this for Flora comes across very strongly. I loved the twists and turns of the story and Flora’s unreliability as a narrator. We know about her amnesia so we can’t be sure she is seeing things correctly. A thought-provoking and entertaining read.

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Guest Post: Allan Stratton, Author of The Way Back Home, Recommends Diverse YA

Today Allan Stratton, author of The Way Back Home, is stopping by to recommend two of his recent favourite diverse reads.


Optimists Die First by Susin Nielsen and The State of Grace by Rachael Lucas (#OwnVoices) are two books that hit my head and heart. Nielsen’s is the story of a once-happy teen who blames herself for the death of her infant sister. Lucas’ is the story of a girl with Asperger’s and a complicated family life.

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A Diversified Bookcase with Heidi Heilig and The Ship Beyond Time

A Diversified Bookcase is a feature where authors of diverse YA recommend other diverse YA novels by other authors to their characters. Today the wonderful Heidi Heilig, author of the incredible The Girl From Everywhere and the recently released sequel, The Ship Beyond Time, is stopping by to recommend books the to crew of the time-travelling ship, The Temptation.


As someone who wrote an entire series about traveling the wide world in a time-hopping pirate ship, it should come as no surprise that I adore diverse books-- especially those written by #ownvoices. After all, every seasoned traveler knows that locals make the best guides.

My own characters in The Ship Beyond Time are a diverse bunch, and with all the amazing #ownvoices books coming out this year, I have some great recommendations for those long midnight watches when the sea is quiet and the wind is calm.

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Diversity Spotlight Thursday #4

Diversity Spotlight Thursday is a weekly meme hosted by Aimal of Bookshelves and Paperbacks. Every week, we are to come up with one book in each of three different categories: a diverse book we have read and enjoyed, a diverse book on your TBR, and one that has not yet been released.

A Diverse Book I Enjoyed:

Run to Kody Keplinger

Bo Dickinson is a girl with a wild reputation, a deadbeat dad, and an alcoholic mom. Everyone in town knows the Dickinsons are a bad lot, but Bo doesn't care what anyone thinks.

Agnes Atwood has never stayed out past ten p.m., never gone on a date and never broken any of her parents' overbearing rules. Rules that are meant to protect their legally-blind daughter, but Agnes isn't quite sure what they are protecting her from.

Despite everything, Bo and Agnes become best friends. And it's the sort of friendship that runs more deeply than anything else. But when Bo shows up in the middle of the night, police sirens wailing in the distance, Agnes is faced with the biggest choice she's ever had to make. Run, or stay? From Goodreads.

I loved this book a hell of a lot more than I thought it would. I bought it after all the VOYA controversy, and it was brilliant! And #OwnVoices legally blind character, and a bisexual character. Such a great book. Check out my review.

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Heidi Heilig's MuggleNet Diverse Books Reading Challenge

Heidi Heilig, YA author of The Girl From Everywhere and the forthcoming sequel The Ship Beyond Time, had a guest post on MuggleNet last week for their Author Takeover feature, A Reader’s Revolution Recs from Heidi Heilig where she shares 30 diverse recs. It's a wonderful list of YA and middle grade novels written by authors of colour and native authors. Within the post, Heidi says:

"Just imagine: what would your year look like if you read only marginalized authors? What would the world look like if we all did the same? And how many books do you read each year, anyway? If it’s more than 30, I challenge you to pick up every one of these."

Looking through the list, there are a fair number of books there I actually really liked the sound of, and with not one of this authors being caucasian, well... it's one of my own goals this year to read more authors of colour, and if I read all of these authors, I'm pretty sure I'd be well on my way to acheiving this goal. When I tweeted about giving this a go, Heilig thre down the gauntlet:

@Jo_Scribbles @MuggleNet YES! I DARE YOU

— heidi heilig 🇺🇸 (@heidiheilig) February 23, 2017

I have actually being challenged - dared - by an author. I can't exactly back down now, can I? So I'm taking up this challenge, and will record how I do in my reading challenges page.

How about you join me in taking up Heidi's challenge? Book mark the post, and see how many you can get through in a year!

Continue reading Heidi Heilig's MuggleNet Diverse Books Reading Challenge

Discussion: Are There Certain Books a Privileged Person Shouldn't Review?

There's something that has been worrying me for a little while now. Are there certain books that privileged people just shouldn't read?

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